Iowa Health Insurance Co-op May Be Liquidated

CoOportunity Health, an Iowa health insurance cooperative that serves residents of Iowa and Nebraska, is running out of money and may be liquidated according to Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart...

January 12, 2015

CoOportunity Health, an Iowa health insurance cooperative that serves residents of Iowa and Nebraska, is running out of money and may be liquidated according to Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart.

The company's 120,000 individual and group customers, most of them in Nebraska and the rest in Iowa, are still covered if they signed up before Dec. 15 and should continue paying premiums to keep coverage in effect, said Gerhart. The Iowa Insurance Division has issued this guidance for agents and brokers.

Gerhart recommended that policyholders switch to other insurance companies during open enrollment, which ends Feb. 15. People who enroll in new health plans by Jan. 15 would have that coverage in place by Feb. 1. People who signed up for the first time with CoOportunity after Dec. 15 will not have coverage and should find other insurers, he said. CoOportunity is one of 24 health insurance cooperatives nationwide set up with federal loans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).